{"id":124907,"date":"2025-03-12T12:15:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T12:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=124907"},"modified":"2025-03-12T12:15:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T12:15:39","slug":"web3-gaming-investors-no-longer-throwing-money-at-axie-killers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=124907","title":{"rendered":"Web3 gaming investors no longer throwing money at \u2018Axie killers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsThe Web3 gaming industry is facing tighter investment conditions as capital flows become more selective, with investors prioritizing sustainable projects over hype-driven fundraising.
\nIn February, Gunzilla Games Web3 director Theodore Agranat described blockchain gaming as a \u201cgame of musical chairs\u201d in which the same capital cycles through different projects and \u201cno new money\u201d comes in. The executive also said users go from project to project to extract value. After that, they leave and search for the next project.
\nIn the same month, the much-anticipated Web3 game Illuvium announced a 40% layoff, demonstrating the need for teams to go \u201csuper lean\u201d in today\u2019s market. Sky Mavis co-founder and CEO Trung Nguyen announced a similar move in October 2024, cutting 21% of its staff to optimize its budget for upcoming projects.\u00a0
\nDespite these events, Web3 gaming professionals said that capital still exists, and explained some of the factors contributing to the industry-wide trend.\u00a0
\nInvestors no longer blindly throw their money at projects
\nSky Mavis co-founder Jeffrey Zirlin told Cointelegraph that Web3 gaming is not uniquely struggling but rather experiencing the same capital constraints affecting the broader crypto industry.
\nThe executive said Web3 gaming is not facing a unique challenge as the landscape is \u201ctight across the board.\u201d\u00a0
\nStill, Zirlin pointed out exceptions. He cited Fableborne, a mobile Web3 game that was oversubscribed by 16,000% despite the market downturn, as demonstrating that \u201cfresh capital was indeed flowing into Ronin,\u201d the Sky Mavis blockchain network. He added:\u00a0
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not that investment has dried up entirely. It\u2019s just that investors are no longer blindly throwing money at projects like they did with so-called \u2018Axie killers\u2019 that failed to deliver.\u201d
\n\u201cAxie killers\u201d was a term used to describe gaming projects that claimed to be the next big Web3 game that would surpass Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis\u2019 flagship Web3 game.\u00a0
\nMeanwhile, The Sandbox co-founder and chief operating officer Sebastien Borget told Cointelegraph that the \u201cgame of musical chairs\u201d description suggests a degree of randomness. Borget said he disagrees with this.\u00a0
\nThe executive said that while new capital is more limited and investors are more cautious, there is now less of the unpredictability previously fueled by hype cycles.\u00a0
\n\u201cThe success of blockchain games increasingly depends on the ability to meet traditional gaming metrics. These include delivering compelling content and gameplay, fostering sustainable user acquisition, establishing a strong in-app economy and building a loyal user base,\u201d he added.\u00a0
\nRelated: Axie Infinity teases new Web3 game as NFT outlook turns positive
\nProjects can\u2019t just \u201cslap NFTs\u201d into a game and raise millions
\nJosh Gier, chief marketing officer of the gaming tournaments platform Coliseum, told Cointelegraph that the days of simply adding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to a game and earning massive support from crypto investors are gone.\u00a0
\n\u201cYes, the speculative phase of blockchain gaming, where projects could raise millions just by slapping NFTs onto a game, has cooled off. But that doesn\u2019t mean capital has disappeared,\u201d Gier said.\u00a0
\nThe executive said the capital is becoming more selective and flows toward projects with strong fundamentals and sustainable economies.
\n\u201cInvestors are showing interest in games that integrate Web3 elements in a way that enhances the player experience rather than focusing solely on financial incentives,\u201d Gier added.\u00a0
\nVineet Budki, the CEO of venture firm Sigma Capital, said some core investors, like Animoca Brands, specifically focus on the blockchain gaming segment. He said that games take longer to build, unlike other niches, so gaming investments take longer to bear fruit.\u00a0
\nStill, the executive said, raising Web3 gaming capital has become more complicated. \u201cGone are the times when you would make a video on gameplay, have attractive tokenomics and raise capital,\u201d Budki said in a statement sent to Cointelegraph.\u00a0
\nThe executive said that teams building great games and having knowledge of the distribution process are the elements that can attract capital.\u00a0
\nMagazine: Off The Grid\u2019s \u2018biggest update yet,\u2019 Rumble Kong League review: Web3 GamerRead More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsThe Web3 gaming industry is facing tighter investment conditions as capital flows become more selective, with investors prioritizing sustainable projects over hype-driven fundraising. In February, Gunzilla Games Web3… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124907"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}